Difference Between Author and Writer

Writing is a medium of communication for humans, it is a way in which a person writes in different languages, numbers and symbols to communicate details, thoughts or any other thing through the written mode of communication. 

Author and writer are the two different titles given to persons who write. These terms refer to different types of writing persons and have different definitions but are used interchangeably.

An author is a person who tries to convey his own ideas and thoughts through writing while a writer is a person who writes any literary piece but the idea is not necessarily his own.

Key Takeaways

1. An author has written and published a book or multiple books, while a writer can refer to anyone who writes, regardless of whether they have published any books.
2. Authors typically write longer works like novels, while writers can work in various formats such as journalism, advertising, or screenwriting.
3. The term “author” can carry more prestige than “writer,” as it implies that the person has achieved a certain level of success in the literary world.

Author vs Writer

The difference between author and writer is that an author is a person who creates his own ideas and draws his own plot and writes about it, the work of an author is always copyrighted, a person becomes an author only when his work gets published,

On the other hand, a writer is a person who writes articles, books, magazines, news articles, etc but his work does not have a copyright in his name, the work of a writer is not necessarily published. 

Comparison Table

Parameter of Comparison	Author	Writer
Meaning	An author is a person who writes an article, a book or a document based on his originally drafted ideas and plots.	A writer is a person who writes articles, drafts, documents, news, magazines or any literary piece but not necessarily on his ideas
Origin	The word author came into existence in the 14th century from the Latin word ‘Auctour’ which means author in Latin.	The word writer has its origin before the 12th century, however, the current definition of writer originated in 1837 from the word ‘Writere’ of old English.
Required Skills	A person becomes an author only when his work gets published, to become an author a person requires a specific set of skills.	There are no criteria of when a person becomes a writer but it can be said that the person becomes a writer the moment he or she starts writing, a writer requires the skills that are suitable for his job.
Nature of work	The focus of an author is to develop plots and ideas and narrate stories based on them, their works are always unique.	The main focus of a writer is to develop the content required in his job, the work of a writer is not necessarily unique.
Publishing and copyright	The works of an author are always published with his name and the published work has the copyright of the author.	The works of a writer are not necessarily published since many people or writers keep their writing to themselves only but the works of writers are not necessarily their copyright work.

What is an Author?

An author is the creator of original works based on his own ideas. A person becomes an author when his work gets published and specific skills are required to become an author. The published works have the author’s copyright.

Authors become popular because they put great effort into drafting ideas.

Some of the famous authors include Jane Austen, Arthur Conan Doyle, Victor Hugo, William Shakespeare, Sidney Sheldon, J K Rowling, Leo Tolstoy, EL James, etc.

What is a Writer?

A writer is a person who writes. In other words, a writer is someone who writes articles, stories, books, reports, documents, scripts, songs or any literary work but the idea behind his works is not necessarily his own.

The word writer originated before the 12th century from the old English word writers which means writer.

A writer has his style of writing and he may write in various genres. A person becomes a writer as soon as he starts writing, the writing can be personal writing or professional writing. A writer focuses on writing anything that his job demands. The works of a writer are necessarily published.

A writer can be classified into the following categories- screenwriter, playwriter, story writer, speechwriter, critic, lyricist, etc.

Some of the famous writers include William Dalrymple who used to write in the travel genre and also as a journalist, Dorothy Sayers was a crime fiction writer but also worked as a critic and playwriter. 

Main Differences Between Author and Writer

1. Author and writer both are the persons who write, specifically an author is someone who writes articles, books or any other literary work based on his freshly drafted and unique ideas while a writer is someone who writes literary works but the idea doesn’t need to be his own. 
2. A person becomes an author only if his works are published while there are no specific criteria for becoming a writer. 
3. A specific set of skills is required to become an author, on the other hand, a writer requires skills that are necessary to do his job.
4. The main focus of an author is to develop plots and ideas and narrate a story based on them, on the other hand, a writer focuses on developing and delivering his work as and when required in his job.
5. The works of an author are always unique and different while the works of a writer are not necessarily unique.
6. The works of an author can be copyrighted in his name while the works of a writer can not be copyright since the idea is not their own.
7. To become an author person requires a good imagination and thought process while to become a writer no such thing is required.

References

1. https://www.surgjournal.com/article/0039-6060(74)90177-9/abstract